After Pharaoh
by Not.My.Orthonym
Summary: After the Pharaoh leaves, what happens to Bakura? The Afterlife isn't for him. Disclaimer: Don't own Yugioh.


"Aren't you coming?"

Bakura didn't met Atem's eyes. "No."

"No?"

"I'm staying."

"You can't keep this up. We can't taint the world of the living any longer. It's time."

"No."

"It's time to let it go Bakura!" Atem made Bakura face him. "Hurting my friends won't solve anything! I won't even be there!"

"Do you really think this is about you?" Spite dripped from Bakura's voice. "How arrogant."

"You'll leave Yugi and his friends alone or I swear-"

"I don't give a shit about little Yugi and his pathetic friends!" Bakura broke the Pharaoh's hold on him. "Like I said, this isn't about you. And it isn't about your moronic _friends_ either."

"Then what?" Wasn't that why Bakura still existed? To destroy everything Atem held dear?

"Don't presume that you were all I ever cared about, _Pharaoh_. Not everyone thinks of you always."

"I don't understand."

A chuckle escaped. "No. No I suppose you don't." Bakura began to walk away.

"I can't let you go."

"You can't stop me."

"You're giving up your chance at anything resembling Heaven!"

"Not much of a Heaven if you ask me."

"What could possibly still tie you to that world!?"

"There are reasons that I met the people I did. Fate has a funny way of working things out. You can try to avoid its bonds all you like, but eventually they catch up to you." Dark eyes slanted sideways to glance at the other. "Perhaps you should have thought more carefully before you refused yours."

And then Bakura was gone, before Atem had had a chance to stop him, leaving behind a very confused Egyptian.

Later, Atem would think harder on this interaction. Later he would figure out part of the puzzle. And then he would think on Yugi, and cry.

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Ryou wasn't really surprised to see the Millennium Ring on his bed when he got home. Saying goodbye to the Pharaoh had been difficult, but somehow Ryou had known that goodbye didn't necessarily mean this goodbye.

"I was hoping you wouldn't mind." The spirit looked much the way he always had. It was sort of strange to see him, because they looked so similar. Bakura never appeared in the form of the Thief, despite always remembering that form. That form was from another time, another life. This was how he looked now.

"You will have to be a more courteous guest, you know." Ryou sat down on the bed. This was likely to be a long talk. "We'll have to work out a system. A schedule even."

"… You're very calm about all this."

Ryou lay back on the bed. "… Remember Duelist Kingdom? How you tried to take the Millennium Puzzle through that shadow game?"

"Yes. You stopped me."

"We had only just become aware of each other then. That was the first time I ever knew you existed. I didn't really question how I could stop you then, because I didn't really know you. I thought it was inherent that a body's soul would have more power in that body. But as things went on, as I saw you change, I knew that that wasn't true. You could've gotten rid of my soul any time, could have locked it away with a shadow game, could have messed with my mind, weakened me, all kinds of things. But you didn't. You didn't want to crush me like that." Ryou's voice was quiet and kind as he spoke, almost fondly, of Bakura. "You've respected me before. With Zorc gone, I don't think I have a real reason to question that."

Bakura sighed. Ryou was always more perceptive than people gave him credit for.

"Can I ask you something?" Ryou was looking at the Ring now, examining it. "Why me?"

This was not an easy question to answer. Bakura didn't like explaining himself to anyone. But Ryou deserved at least this. "There's a short answer and a _long_ one."

"I'll take both please."

"The short answer is that you are my reincarnation. The Thief King reborn."

"And the long one?"

"… I've had a lot of time to ask the same question. Why you? At first I believed that surely there must have been someone more suitable, someone stronger, someone less … good. Less kind. Less caring. I thought there must have been some mistake. I was never that caring in my former life." Bakura paused.

"Go on."

"…As the Thief King, I did some horrible things. I killed a lot of people, turned away from Egyptian society and religion, and gave up friends."

"Surely you must have had a reason." Bakura had always had a reason for doing horrible things. It was never _just_ that he enjoyed it. There had to be something more.

"… The Millennium Items are incredibly powerful objects. Their powers are dark and twisted. Their creation had to mirror this. The Pharaoh's father … he claimed he didn't know the cost. But he must have been able to guess. Anyone could guess that a power that great, it had to have a terrible cost. But he deemed it acceptable, as long as he didn't have to know the details, didn't have to accept responsibility, could believe that such a cost had not been paid. And make no mistake, the cost was _terrible._"

"W-what did they do?" The spirit was almost shaking, with rage or … Ryou didn't like where this was going.

"I lived in a small village, on the outskirts of Egypt. Good people, we were. Minding our own business, going about our lives. I had a mother, father, and a little brother. One night … bad men came to the village. One night was all it took. The next morning, only I was left standing. The village itself had burned." Bakura turned away from Ryou. "There is a cost for bringing dark power into the world. My village paid that cost."

There was more of course. That night would be forever seared into Bakura's memory. His father telling him to hide while he ran into their burning house to fetch his mother and brother. The three of them being captured while Bakura hid in the shadows, young and unable to help. Creeping around, watching for a chance to save them, only to watch them die in the most horrible ways. Watching their body parts be used in twisted and dark ceremonies. Watching the Millennium Items being forged.

But Ryou didn't need to hear that. It was better that he didn't. This story was corruption. Bakura _knew_ that all who touched this story emerged different. He didn't want to corrupt Ryou.

"I thought that someone like you could never be the reincarnation of someone like me. I thought there must have been a mistake."

Ryou stood up, moving closer, wishing he could in some way comfort the spirit. "But?"

"… But I did those terrible things _because_ I was like you. Because I cared about my family, about my village. I cared that their death would not go unnoticed, an acceptable cost in a Pharaoh's quest for power. I wanted someone to answer for that crime. And when I missed my chance, I found a way to continue on. I found a way to make sure that sometime in the future, someone would pay."

"You did all this because you cared too much." Ryou finished the story for him. A small nod confirmed this.

Ryou wanted to hug the spirit. But even if Bakura had a physical form, he wasn't a very huggy person. "… What was your village's name?"

"Kul Elna."

"Maybe sometime, when things have all settled, you could tell me about Kul Elna."

Bakura turned to face Ryou, who had his trademark kind, friendly smile on his face. "… Maybe. Sometime."

"So what are you going to do now? The Pharaoh's gone."

"… There's someone I'd like to go see."

A knowing smile. "I'll leave you two to it then. Just please take it slow with him." Ryou put the necklace back on and went to play in his soul room for a while.

Ryou knew that he should have hated the spirit. He wasn't exactly a nice person. But … there were moments when he was nice, to Ryou at least. During Battle City he had protected him, taken the blow for Ryou. And there were moments, before Duelist Kingdom … Ryou didn't really remember them all that well. But …

Ryou had always been weak, physically. There were times, before Domino, when he had been bullied. Schools that he had had to leave. He used to think that Domino was just different. That people didn't bully others there.

That, of course, just wasn't true. As he became more and more familiar with the feeling of the spirit taking control, he could recognize when it used to happen, before he was even aware of the spirit's existence. If he asked, Bakura would probably wave it off as making sure his evil plans weren't impaired by Ryou's body's pain, but Ryou knew better.

Ryou had always needed a protector, to tell the truth. And Bakura had always needed someone to protect.

Then again, maybe Ryou was just being too nice as usual. Maybe.

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Marik hadn't been expecting anyone. Ishizu and Odion knew better than to bother him for a couple days. He wouldn't be very good company.

He honestly didn't know where to go from here. His whole life's goal was gone now, done. Now he had the opportunity to choose another one, but he didn't know what to choose. Everything was gone. His adversary-turned-not-quite-ally. His not-quite-friend-turned-adversary.

That stung. Bakura was gone now. Gone for good. It hadn't been exactly a friendship, but it was the closest thing Marik had ever had. The closest relationship Marik had formed outside of his family, his partnership with Bakura. And it had had the potential to be so much more. Both he and Bakura had ignored it at the time, more focused on their evil schemes, but there had been something there. Always.

But his Bakura had been gone for a while now. At some point, he had become more Zorc than anything else.

It all seemed so pointless now. No, Marik would definitely not be very good company for a while to come.

So the knock on the door surprised him.

And the person standing there surprised him even more.

"You're supposed to be dead." Bluntness was Marik's forte.

"I can't count how many times I've heard that before." Definitely Bakura. Marik's Bakura, not Ryou, not the Bakura-Zorc hybrid. Never before had sarcasm filled Marik with such joy.

Bakura suddenly found himself with an armful of tanned Egyptian. He hadn't really been expecting a hug, after all he wasn't really a very huggy person. But he could make an exception for Marik.

Word weren't really needed, which was good because Marik was useless for those right now anyway. He wasn't crying, because Marik Ishtar did not cry. Bakura might have told you a different story, but what did he know anyway?

There'd be time for words later. They had all the time in the world for words as they both figured out what to do with their lives now. For tonight, all they really needed was to hold one another. Nothing more.

Well maybe a little bit more. But, really, with all that built up sexual tension, you have to expect a kissing. Okay, making out might be the better term, but Bakura's been waiting for years for this chance, what would you really expect?

Eventually they'd figure everything out. But for now, they were just happy to have each other. They understood each other better than anyone left in the world now, really always.

Bakura would still have his bad days, his days when he seemed always to dwell in the past. But Marik knew more about that than anyone. And there were dark days for Marik, days when his soul seemed split in two. But who was better equipped than Bakura to deal with that?

They didn't give up being evil, though Ryou reined both of them in. No killing or maiming. Villains with a code. And Ryou didn't mind sharing his body with Bakura, though it made things a little awkward when Marik tried to tell them apart.

Bakura made quite a name for himself as a thief. Ryou liked to think of him as Robin Hood, an illusion that Bakura didn't bother to dispel. He did take care to honor the code he and Ryou had agreed upon. He spent the rest of his life protecting Ryou, taking care of Marik, and being taken care of in return. He finally had the happiness he had always deserved.


End file.
